Social engagement in virtual worlds

Fascinatiing blog by Nedra Weinreich
Spare change
Nedra says

Okay, I'll admit it. I spent much of the night exploring Second Life, a virtual world that combines 3-D graphics, social interaction, events, commerce and entertainment. After reading a post from Marc Sirkin at npMarketing Blog about how the American Cancer Society had done a virtual walk in Second Life, I was intrigued by the social marketing possibilities of using SL and other games for health and social change. I also read about an SL area called Camp Darfur, which is a virtual model of an abandoned refugee camp that you can "walk" around and learn more about the situation, pictured here.

Nedra points us towards some very exciting educational possibilites within virtual worlds.
She aslo references the The serious games initiative Briefly they say The Serious Games Initiative is focused on uses for games in exploring management and leadership challenges facing the public sector. Part of its overall charter is to help forge productive links between the electronic game industry and projects involving the use of games in education, training, health, and public policy.
Below is how they explain themeselves in more detail

Videogames are increasingly ubiquitous. More than half of all Americans play them and for college students it's more than 70%. Games have surpassed Hollywood box office revenues for the third year in a row. Last year's figures: games' $10B to Hollywood's $9.4B. And as this technology matures, there is a new trend emerging: harnessing the power of this popular medium for more "serious purposes". Fighting poverty. Educating and inspiring young cancer patients. Training protesters in peaceful resistance to oppressive regimes. Fostering leadership skills in inner city youth. Exploring the tricky terrain between civil rights and airport security. Treating debilitating childhood diabetes. Understanding the human rights crisis in Darfur. The list goes on.
How can organizations use games?
win the hearts and minds of their constituents
promote awareness
educate their audience
and even directly provide services
Digital video games provide a platform that is highly engaging, challenging, empowering and educational by nature. Gaming is going to be bigger than Rock'n'Roll

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